South Miami Police Officer Sues City for Time It Took Him to Put on His Uniform

The only people who get paid to put on clothes are fashion models, but a former sergeant in the South Miami Police Department is suing to have police officers added to that list too.

Michael Weissberg claims he worked five to ten extra overtime hours a week for which he was not paid while on the force. He insists those hours included time it took him to put on and take off his uniform and clean out his squad car.

According to the Miami Herald, Weissberg, who resigned form the force in 2013, says it took him 20 minutes to put on his body armor. He claims other officers were also angry that they were expected to do tasks such as clean their uniforms and maintain their weapons off of the clock. He says he'd have to show up at the station at least 30 minutes before roll call in order to prepare for the job.

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The city plans to fight the lawsuit and has hired outside council to do so.

"These are items that are normally considered to be something an officer does on their own time," South Miami Mayor Phillip Stoddard told the Herald. "The city, for instance, allows a police officer to take their car home as part of their contract. The city provides them with uniforms as part of their contract. But there is a certain set of maintenance items that are expected that the officers will do themselves."

Weissber, who started with the force in 2005, says he's owed $17,000 in unpaid wages. The city claims there's established case law that would back it up in the suit and plans to fight it in court.